“Wh-what have I done?!” Trivo exclaimed, placing her hands on her head. “I-I... w-wait! Th-the others! Where are they?” Trivo asked, looking around in a frenzy. It didn't take long for her to spot Shock lying on the floor against a wall.

“Shock!” she yelped, running over to her.

Shock's eyes were bright green, indicating that she was conscious. She wasn't moving much, but she was alive.

Trivo knelt down beside her. “Shock..! Y-you're alive! Are you okay?”

Shock groaned, slowly raising a hand to her head. “Trivo...”

“It's me! I'm here for you. What happened?”

“Magnus... Magnus... where is he?”

“He's gone. Don't worry–”

“Huh? Wait... Trivo? What are you doing here?” Shock's eyes widened, and she lifted herself off the floor, now sitting against the wall. “Where are the others?”

“I... don't know.”

“No... fuck. Aural, she was... no!” Shock slowly pushed herself to her feet, using the wall to support herself. “Magnus slashed her! Where is she?”

“I don't know..!”

From a distance, Nōne spoke up, solemn in tone. “Your answer... lies here.”

Shock made her way over to Nōne, supported by Trivo in her groggy state.

Aural was lying on her back, body smashed and damaged, in a pool of light blue fluid. Her speaker deck was crushed in, her abdomen was sliced open, and her visor was shattered. She showed no signs of life.

“Oh my god,” Shock cried, “oh my god! Aural!” She stumbled away from Trivo, almost tripping as she ran towards Aural's corpse.

“N-no...” Trivo stuttered, rigid from the sight.

Shock crouched down beside Aural, investigating the damage. Her breathing grew heavier and faster as she looked over her deceased friend.

“Is she okay?” Trivo asked, despite already knowing the answer.

Shock stood up and let out a shaky sigh. “I need to get her to the central tech station. I... I need to see if there's anything salvageable. You two, help me carry her out of here!”

“A-ah! Wait, what about Lavil?!” Trivo asked.

Shock shook her head. “You seen him, Nōne?”

“You may not like the answer.”

“Oh no...” Trivo groaned.

“Just fucking spit it out!” Shock shouted.

“Yes, I've seen them... but they're no longer whole.”

“What..?” Shock and Trivo said in unison.

From a nearby pile of debris, Nōne held up a shiny, light blue piece of metal.

One of Lavil's feet.

“No! Th-that can't be true!” Trivo began. “It can't be!”

Shock grit her teeth and cussed, looking to the floor.

Trivo ran to the middle of the room, looking in every direction for signs of Lavil.

“No!!” Trivo repeated, her voice laced with agony. From beneath a small pile of books and wood, she lifted up two chunks of Lavil's annihilated torso. “This isn't real! Shock! Help him! Please!!” Trivo ran over to Shock.

Shock drew a heavy breath, meeting Trivo's gaze with compassion and understanding.

“P-please, Shock...” Trivo sobbed, though no tears manifested on her face. “Save him...!”

Shock walked up to Trivo and embraced her.

“Shock!” Trivo repeated. “Please–”

“Trivo... Trivo. I... he's in pieces. I can't. His hardware is–”

“SHOOOCK!!” Trivo yelled, not in anger, but distress. She waited a few more moments before slowly returning Shock's hug. “Lavil... uuu... Lavil...”

Shock shut her eyes. The two stood in collective despair, letting the seconds pass.

“Lavil II was a good person.” Nōne stepped up to Trivo's side, placing a gloved hand on her shoulder. “Beyond their crass exterior was a machine that cared. You were one of the only ones who saw that, Trivo.”

Trivo synthesized sniffling and sobbing noises. “No... stop... don't say that...”

Shock opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated, only to end up saying “I'm sorry.” She released her hug and looked into Trivo's eyes. “Trivo... listen to me, okay?”

Her voice was very choked up.

“Listen closely. We need to be strong, okay? That's what Aural and Lavil would want, isn't it? They sacrificed themselves for your freedom. They loved you and wanted nothing more than for you to be safe. We did it, right? Magnus and Tangent are gone, right?”

“Tangent is g-gone too?” Trivo said with similarly choked up words.

“That's right. You're free and safe now. It's going to be hard, but we have to be strong. For them.”

“W-why... why did this have to happen...” Trivo whimpered.

Shock hugged Trivo again.

“My apologies if this comes across as insensitive,” Nōne spoke up, “but we need to prepare ourselves. Fighting our way out of here is not going to be easy.”

“No, no,” Trivo responded as she pulled away from Shock's embrace. “There's a... u-uh.. this is an elevator...”

“Oh?”

“There's... in the middle, by the desk and chair...”

As Trivo said, in the middle of the room stood a desk and chair just beside one of the few bookcases that hadn't been toppled during the carnage. On the desk was a small panel of buttons.

“We can go up,” Trivo explained, “to Grilith Tower.”

“Hm. Seems as if I don't know everything after all,” Nōne remarked, walking over to it.

“Bring... bring Aural to the middle...” Trivo told Shock.

Shock walked over to Aural without hesitation, lifting her up and carrying her over to the middle of the room.

“Only the middle is an elevator,” Trivo explained. She walked over to the panel with Nōne. “I-I... I think it's... this button.” She pressed the button.

The floor beneath them shook for a moment as an enormous array of mechanisms and machines beneath the floor sprung to life. Gradually at first, the floor started lifting itself up.

Up above, the ceiling opened up as well, forming a path for the platform to rise up through. As it ascended into the ceiling, books and debris hanging along the edges of the platform were smashed and crushed as the platform entered the narrow passage upwards.

The ceiling opened above them again, revealing the ground floor of Grilith tower up above. And, as the elevator rose to the ground floor, a familiar face stood waiting nearby.

“You made it, lassie!” Xaita called out to Trivo, running to the edge of the elevator platform. “Are y'all okay?”

“I-I– yes, I'm okay. B-but... Lavil... a-a-and Aural...”

“Oh, no... don't tell me...”

The elevator platform came to a halt, flush with Grilith Tower's floor.

Shock walked up beside Trivo. “Lavil sacrificed himself to help free Trivo. There...” she paused, shaking her head, “there's no way he's coming back.”

Trivo looked away, whimpering.

“There might be a chance for Aural,” Shock continued. “I don't know yet. I need to get her to the tech station.”

“I'm so sorry,” Xaita consoled her. “Lavil... agh, I'm no good with this emotional stuff,” she commented, stepping away from the group. “Hell, and to think I had no idea what you folks were on about with that whole desert trip. I'm so sorry.”

“I'm curious... how did you know to come here, Xaita?” Nōne asked.

“Trivo came to me with an arm missing and said she needed to get somewhere urgently.” She began pacing. “CRT Siphon Yard, of all places. Told me it connected to somewhere she needed to be. Kinda strange, but I ain't one to argue with someone missin' a limb in such a panic, especially if they're a friend of Lavil. Said it might be the last time I see her. Thank goodness she was wrong about that! When I dropped her off, she told me to go to Grilith and wait 'til dusk to pick her up in case she lives.” She turned to Shock. “J-just what were y'all doing down there?”

“We can talk about that later. You're here to pick her up, right?” Shock replied.

“You got it, but you're free to come too. You too, uh, you too, whoever you are.” Xaita looked over to Nōne.

“Your offer is generous indeed, but I must politely decline.”

“What?” Shock gasped. “You're leaving?”

“Upsilon is dead. My work here is done, and now I must be on my way.”

“And you're just going to–” Shock stopped herself. “Fine. Whatever, then.”

“Whoa, wait, you guys aren't... murderers, are you?” Xaita stepped back.

“No! God no,” Shock declared before anyone had a chance to answer. “I'll explain on the way back to the city. You brought your tank, right?”

“Yes ma'am.”

“We really need to get going.”

“Ahh... I understand. Let's be on our way, then.”

Shock walked back to Aural's body in the middle of the elevator platform. She picked her up with a hefty grunt.

Xaita guided Trivo to Grilith's main entrance, with Shock following behind.

“It'll be okay,” Xaita said to Trivo, holding her arm over Trivo's shoulder. “It'll be okay.”

With Aural seated upright in the corner of Xaita's desert tank, Shock and Trivo found themselves sitting among their driver's cluttered belongings in the back of the huge vehicle. The truck cruised along the desert floor at a brisk pace – quickly, but not so fast as to jostle everything around over the sandy dunes.

Shock took the time to explain the majority of what happened with herself, Trivo, Aural, and Lavil. Sparing some sensitive details, she described the situation from Tangent to Historical, and, eventually, Magnus.

“So... my goodness, you're saying that was all happening under our noses in the city?” Xaita asked.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Shock answered.

“I'd have half a mind to call that out as a crafty story and nothing more. But... with Lavil and Aural... and you two covered in that black stuff... I-I mean, Lavil talked to me a while back... she implied she was under some sort of control? But I didn't give it much of a second thought. And... Trivo missing an arm like that, and the whole “Tangent” thing...”

Shock looked over to Trivo. She was covering her face with her hands, sobbing.

“I-I'm sorry. I guess that's not what matters right now. I'll quit my rambling.”

“It's fine, Xaita.”

“Might I just ask one last question?”

“Go for it.”

“Was it... Historical, was it really him?”

Shock hummed in thought. “I... guess. I don't really know. What happened down there feels like a fever dream.”

“And he's gone now too?”

“...Yeah.”

Xaita let out an exasperated sigh. “This just ain't right...”

The desert tank rolled up to Zynima's main road. Unlike last time, Xaita took it easy on the speed.

“You two are headed to the tech station?” she asked.

“Yes,” Shock immediately answered. She looked over to Trivo, who had her legs curled up to her chest, and her head hanging down against her knees. “Hang in there, okay?” Shock reached over and stroked Trivo's head.

“Mhmm...” Trivo mumbled.

After a small bump, the vehicle transitioned onto the city's main strip. Xaita honked the horn to let pedestrians know to move away.

“I wish I could do more,” Xaita spoke up again. “I just...”

“It's fine, it really is,” Shock reassured her. “Giving us this ride is a huge help.”

“I know, but...”

She didn't finish her sentence.

The massive truck slowed to a crawl as Xaita turned into her garage, positioning it very delicately as to not scrape any walls. Shortly after, it came to a stop.

“We're here. This is about as close as I can get you.”

“Thank you. Thank you very much for this.” Shock softly held on to Trivo's hand. “Time to go,” she whispered.

Trivo brought herself to her feet without a word.

“If you need anything else, well... you know where I'll be.”

“Thanks,” Shock repeated. Letting go of Trivo's hand, she crouched down in front of Aural and lifted her up. “Take care, Xaita.”

The city streets weren't too crowded, but nearby pedestrians and passersby looked very concerned; with Trivo and Shock still covered in filth, and Aural's lifeless body carried along in Shock's arms, it was not a comfortable sight.

The entrance to the bright central tech station was within sight, no more than a small block away.

“Fuck... how am I going to explain this..?” Shock muttered.

“I-I can try to help...” Trivo stuttered, her disposition no cheerier than before. “But... I'm r-really tired...”

“It's all right. Can you hold out for a bit longer?”

“I think so...”

“You don't need to do anything. I'll... mmgh. We can go to my place after this.”

“Ah, sorry... I don't need to come if you don't want–”

“It's okay. You're fine... this is just hard for me.” Shock kept her voice down and her tone as neutral as possible.

They stepped in front of the tech station's automatic door and they walked inside.

The lobby was empty, save for a white and blue receptionist sitting behind a round desk opposite the entrance.

“Hello– Shock System? Is that you?” he greeted her.

“Where's the nearest available repair room?”

“Uh! Just down the hall, third door on your right. Where have–”

“Thank you,” she interrupted him. With Trivo in tow, Shock led the way down the immaculately clean hall, and eventually into the third door on her right.

Aside from a standard assortment of repair tools and equipment, as well as a bench to lie patients on, the room was empty. Shock lifted Aural up onto the repair table, gently lying her down as to not damage her any further.

“Come on,” Shock instructed Trivo.

“Wh... we're leaving already?”

“Yeah.”

Shock walked back up to the receptionist. “I need you to get someone on damage assessment on the victim I just brought in as soon as possible. I'll be back to explain my absence and return to work soon. Tomorrow.”

“Well, you're the boss – I'll see you tomorrow then?”

Shock turned away and headed back outside without a word.

Trivo hesitated. She glanced back to the receptionist before catching up to Shock.

“U-um... Shock...” Trivo said as she walked back outside, “are you okay..?”

“Don't worry about me.”

“Ah...”

Shock's pace was far quicker than normal. She power-walked down the street towards her house in the bustling residential area, still several blocks away. Trivo tried to keep up, but she had to break out into a small jog every once in a while to match Shock's speed.

She'd glance at Shock every now and then if she figured she could get away with it. It didn't take a sleuth to tell Shock's breathing was still as heavy and arduous as earlier, and the expression on her slanted, green eyes spelled out her mood quite clearly.

Minute after minute passed. As the crowds grew thinner, the distant ambience of city life barely drowned out the overwhelming silence between the two.

“There,” Shock finally said, more to herself than anyone else. Her house was finally in view.

“Is that your home?” Trivo asked.

Shock gave an affirmative hum.

“I-it looks nice,” Trivo added.

Much to Shock's relief, the house's exterior showed no signs of damage. Seemingly, none of Magnus's goons had gotten into it while she was away.

“I hope you don't mind using a recharge station that's not totally pure,” Shock said.

“Oh, uh, I guess it would be okay. How much is it?”

“99.97%.”

“That's okay, I think.”

Shock unlocked the front door and the two walked inside. Trivo curiously looked around while Shock went straight for living room.

“U-um... if it's okay, can you show me your recharge station? I'm really tired...”

“Yeah.” Before she had a chance to sit down, Shock changed course to the hallway that led to her bedroom. “Down here.”

“Thanks...”

She showed Trivo the station, as well as how to work it due to its “impure” design.

“You're sure it's okay if I stay here to rest...?”

“You saved my life. It's the least I can do.”

“Ah, I guess.”

“Sleep well.” Shock turned to leave the room.

“Thanks...”

After leaving Trivo, Shock leaned against the hallway wall, hanging her head down with a hand on her forehead. She waited for a few minutes, listening for the sound of the recharge machine powering on, and Trivo powering down.

To be sure, she peeked into the room after she heard Trivo shut down.

Shock shakily sighed. She walked back over to the living room and sat down on the couch, letting her head hang towards the floor. After a long moment of contemplation, she lifted up a nearby pillow and buried her face in it.

“FUCK!” she screamed. “FUUUCK!!”

Shock immediately jumped to her feet and whipped the pillow back down at the couch. She curled up her hand into a fist and repeatedly slammed it down onto the cushion.

After she finished pummelling the pillow, she let out an agonized wail and sunk to her knees. She buried her face in the pillow again and let her tears flow.